Even in a post-COVID world, there’s nothing more isolating than a failing relationship. CARYS captures this chilling rift in her new music video for “No More.” In the visual, released today (June 26), she finds herself alone – literally – in a world devoid of people. As she sings about how her love is not someone she can “lean on no more,” there is no one around for her to actually lean on. It’s a brilliant use of quarantine, and as CARYS explains, it was a sort of homecoming for her.
“This music video is so special to me because it was filmed at my childhood home and shot by my younger brother, Nick,” CARYS tells HollywoodLife. “When we were little, we used to make videos together all the time, so the whole experience was beautifully nostalgic. It reminded us of how far we have come since those days; me working full time on my music career and him starting film school this year. I’m so proud!”
Though necessity and the CDC’s social distancing guidelines dictated CARYS shoot her video this way, the results are nothing short of sublime. The backdrop of so many solitary scenes – a neighborhood street devoid of people, floating alone in a swimming pool, draped over a balcony – emphasize CARYS’s verses about the growing rift from her partner (“I’m done / You’re with me / but I feel alone”).
The visuals also add a few clever layers of subtext to the story. On a meta-level, having CARYS shoot a video about “not leaning on” someone in her old neighborhood could be taken as a statement about growing up, of not relying on those childhood support systems (parents, best friends, etc.) to brave the unfamiliar terrain of adulthood. On a visual level, “No More” offers an ingenious take on “being alone.” At the start of the video, when CARYS first recognizes that the relationship is over (“you’re not somebody I want to lean on no more”), the lighting is dim and drab, conveying the sadness that comes with any romance’s end.
There’s a sense of loneliness, but as the video progresses, the lighting shifts – as does CARYS’s expression. Instead of lifelessly bouncing on a trampoline against a dreary day, she’s now frolicking in the sun. “Loneliness” transforms into “independence,” and the woman who starts the song drunk with “bare feet on the sidewalk” seems strong enough to stand on her own by the end.
Previously, CARYS released “Princesses Don’t Cry,” a video about “owning your emotions,” she told HollywoodLife. The visual also made a striking contrast of traditional ideals of femininity and masculinity by putting a child Beauty Pageant contestant in the front seat of an El Camino. Though that contrast wasn’t intentional, CARYS told us that, “Growing up, I did struggle a lot with the division between boys and girls. I used to get mad at the McDonald’s Drive-Thru when my brother got a boy toy, and I got a girl toy. It felt stupid. There’s a lot of imagery to support that along with the lyrics in the song, and I’m glad that that’s what’s coming across, even with shots I didn’t intend to!”
“No More” is out now.